a) There were only 21 films released widely last year, a drop from 26 of the previous year. This despite the fact that more films are being made than ever. What gives?b) There are five first-time directors: Zarina, Zaili, Pierre, Osman, and the team of Jamal & C.K. c) Sharad is the only expat; he has made a previous Bollywood movie. d) Two of the films explicitly invoke old movies (Budak Lapok riffs on the Bujang Lapok series; and Orang Minyak does the same to the three films (one lost) with the words Orang Minyak in them. e) Contrary to the thesis advanced by smart-alecks of the past, people stayed away most from the only film that had 'cinta' in the title!f) The most prolific director is Razak Mohaideen who's made 21 films. g) Two films have the directors also acting in the lead role: Sumolah and 9 Septemberh) In contrast to the last 2 years, there are no widely-released local feature films in languages other than Malay.i) For some much-needed perspective: Transformers made over RM18 million in Malaysia. And Sivaji made over RM8 million. If we were to compile a Malaysian Top 10 of 2007 regardless of film origin, only one local flick would be on it.

4 comments:

Rizal
said...

Hi, this comment is unrelated to the post. I know of no other way to contact you. Please revert to the original colour scheme (black font on white background). I find that white on black hurts my eyes. Thank you.

I don't know what you mean by "off-white against black". What I see is white font on darkish background. Although I still prefer the original, I quite like your hue of blue.

By the way, was it you who wrote "You know you're in a Malay movie when ..." sometime back? It was a forwarded email. I can't find it on the Internet. If it's yours, please put it on your blog! It's a classic!